By Halle Fukawa | Editor in Chief

View VSA’s performance here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mvYbc3NASqlvJHeLSs50nrBceEddaDv9/view

   On Dec. 14, the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) was announced the winner of Gabrielino High School’s first annual Clubroke. ASB organized the friendly competition in the hopes of encouraging student participation in clubs this year.

   On Nov. 24, ASB announced on their Instagram that submissions for Clubroke: Battle of the Bands would end on Dec. 4 along with the theme and rules. It would be open for all clubs, including the four class councils. 

   The theme was music from the 2000’s, so clubs were able to choose nostalgic songs to lip-sync to. Each video had to be between one and three minutes long and had to be filmed separately or over Zoom. 

   The winning club was determined by a student vote conducted during Embedded Time on Dec. 9. VSA  will receive extra promotion for the entire month of January.

    “[The winners] will get more publicity for their monthly meetings, fundraisers, events, [and] services,” stated sophomore Trinh Hyunh, ASB Commissioner of Clubs and Organizations. “Since a lot of students may not be notified of the activities that happen within clubs, this competition would be a great way for one club to win that and receive more participation from students.”

   In all, seven clubs competed for the prize. 

   Although there was only one winner, students found more value in the experience than the prize.

   “I wanted to participate in clubroke because I wanted to be more involved,” stated junior Kelly Hy, who performed with the Junior Class Council’s rendition of “One Thing” by One Direction. “Especially since everything is online [and] we don’t often get lunch activities, I thought this would be fun.”

   Students used this competition as a way to express their creativity with their club members. 

   “My club did not have anything planned in terms of choreography and editing,” stated sophomore Kayli Ngeam, who performed “Best Day of My Life” by American Authors. “We just had fun with our videos and let our creativity flow.”

   Senior Class Council, who sang “Boyfriend” by Big Time Rush, made the effort to go the extra mile, just for the fun of it. 

   Senior Class Council member Jacquelyn Tran stated, “I really like props, so my favorite part of filming was finding stuff to include into my short clips!”

   Other participants, like Key Club member Jayme Banh, sophomore, were hesitant to submit an entry. 

   “The most difficult part about filming was getting over the initial embarrassment feelings,” stated Banh. “But after a few takes I was able to brush off that feeling. It was pretty enjoyable.”

   For some other club members, it was not the shyness that unnerved them, but rather the performing aspect. 

   “The most difficult part of filming was trying not to mess up in the lyrics as I didn’t know the song that well,” stated junior Megan Gong, member of the Positive Vibes club. 

   Despite all the editing, rehearsing, and awkwardness, Clubroke succeeded in encouraging school spirit and club participation. Junior Theresa Hyunh, who performed “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys  with the VSA, agreed. 

   “I enjoyed it!” stated Hyunh. “Despite it being a bit stressful during the process of filming and editing, it was all worth it to see the end result and how many of us came together to do something fun.”